Spain to allow neighbors to veto apartment rentals to tourists

OVIEDO, Spain

Spain will reform part of its property law to allow neighbors to block other owners in the same building from renting out apartments to tourists, the country's housing minister announced on Wednesday.

Isabel Rodriguez said the legal reform aims to “empower” neighbors, making it so they would have to give permission for these types of accommodations before they can be rented out.

Although Spain’s Supreme Court has already ruled that these neighboring groups can legally stop the practice, Rodriguez said the law is lacking clarity.

The reformed law would require apartment owners to get permission from their neighbors beforehand.

According to government plans, three-fifths of the other owners in the building would have to give the green light to put apartments on platforms such as Airbnb.

According to Spain’s statistics institute INE, there were more than 350,000 homes legally rented out to tourists nationwide.

Rodriguez also announced that the government will regulate other forms of short-term rentals.

“There should be no abuse in the short-term rental market, instead it should protect and give security to those who need this type of accommodation,” she said in a press conference.

She said both short-term rentals and tourist apartments, not limited by the same market regulations as long-term rentals, are “adding stress to the rental market” and driving up housing prices.

Indeed, Spain’s housing market has become highly stressed in some areas, particularly in big cities or places bursting with seasonal tourism like the Balearic Islands.

In provinces like Ibiza, many locals and workers have resorted to living in tents or vehicles.

In 2023, the IGC, a representative body of the Spanish police, said "three or four" of its officers were living in vehicles on the island, unable to find affordable accommodation.

In late June, the Barcelona mayor announced that the Catalan capital aims to fully eliminate all tourist apartments by Nov. 2028 to help bring down housing costs.

“We cannot have the majority of our young people forced to leave Barcelona if they want to move out (of their family’s) home,” Mayor Jaume Collboni told a news conference.